Wednesday
Sep142011
Players pillory Dubsdread in advance of Western / BMW
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 10:35AM
Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The meeting of the Rees Jones Admiration Society scheduled for Thursday through Sunday on Cog Hill Golf & Country Club’s Dubsdread layout has been canceled.
The 108th Western Open – titled the BMW Championship for the fifth time – will go on regardless.
There’s $8 million on offer to the 70 professionals in the field, which is $2.8 million more than Frank Jemsek spent to bring in Jones, the star architect, to renovate Dick Wilson’s original Dubsdread design for a potential U.S. Open.
So far, there’s no Open on the way, and the Western is heading out of town.
“They need to get their money back, I guess,” Steve Stricker said of the Jemseks.
And Stricker’s won at Cog Hill, and is a fan of the Jemsek family.
Two years from now, if it’s played at a Chicago-area course beginning with a C, it’ll be Conway Farms. While that’s not a lock, it’s a good possibility, and not just because Luke Donald, atop the world rankings for most of this year, is a member there.
“I’d love to see it,” Donald cooed on Wednesday. “They’re great supporters of golf there, and it’s a great golf club, all walking. And I think it’s a great golf course. It’s very capable of holding a BMW Championship. I’d love to see it go there.”
He confessed he wasn’t a fan of Jones’ architectural style, which, generally speaking, is to make courses harder.
“I’m not a fan of deep bunkers and ridges in greens,” Donald said. “There are certain shots out there, certain carries, just the way you have to fit some of the shots into these tight pin locations, it makes it a little bit difficult.
“There’s not a lot of strategy. Like the 18th, you can’t hit 3-wood short (of the bunkers) because you’re hitting a 4-iron into a green that’s very slopey, so it forces you to take on the tighter (part of the fairway). Just from an architectural standpoint, I think there are a few flaws.”
Donald may be unaware of the concept of risk-reward off the tee, but he spoke kindly in comparison to Phil Mickelson. An ardent critic of Jones’ work no matter what the zip code since Jones renovated his home course at Torrey Pines, Mickelson teed up his Dubsdread renovation last year, and did it again Wednesday.
“There’s really no shot-making here that’s required,” Mickelson said. “It doesn’t really test our ability to maneuver the ball because the fronts of the greens are blocked, and the only shot is to hit a high flop shot that stops.”
Actually, you can run a shot onto the green on 11 of the 14 par 4s and 5s, but Mickelson was rolling here.
“But being able to maneuver it doesn’t really matter,” the left-hander went on. “That’s basic stuff. Chipping areas, shot value around the greens, penalties for certain misses, all that stuff wasn’t really well thought out.
“But tee to green and the property, it’s got really great potential. I’d love to see a Gil Hanse or a Crenshaw/Coore or Kyle Phillips or David Kidd, guys that really know what they’re doing, come in and create something special here, because I think that’s what the family and this facility deserve.”
Stricker, Donald and Mickelson were not alone.
“Where this golf course really is going to show some teeth (is) because of the green design, because if the greens are really firm there’s some pins on every green that just are not accessible, that you can’t aim at,” said Jim Furyk, who won on the pre-renovated Dubsdread in 2005. “That’s not going to change really whether I’m hitting 7-iron or 9-iron into the green.”
Geoff Ogilvy, who tied for fifth in the 2004 Western but hasn’t finishes higher than 24th on the renovation, said the course wasn’t one of his favorites.
“I guess to play it well you’ve got to hit it out of the fairway bunkers, (which are) in play on almost every hole,” Ogilvy said. “And the greens, you can get some pretty crazy putts if you miss the pin by a long way on the greens. So I guess a lot of these greens, you’re better off to miss the green on the pin side of the hole. Does that make sense?”
Stricker thought the look of the course improved while the ability to play it declined.
“I’ve got to believe for the average golfer, it is very difficult,” Stricker said. “And the players as a whole don’t really care for the redo. To see a tournament that’s been here for so long sound like it’s going to leave is disappointing.”
Speaking for the defense, defending champion Dustin Johnson was all sunshine and bunnies.
“It’s great,” Johnson said. “I like the golf course a lot. It’s in great shape this year. Obviously I played really well here last year, so it suits my game. It’s long, it’s hard.”
This proves the old poker axiom: Winners tell funny stories, and losers say deal.
For his part, Jones, tracked down by Golf Channel, took the high road regarding the criticism.
“I’m not going to address that,” Jones said. “No comment.”
Around Dubsdread
Add North Shore Country Club to the list of potential sites for the 2013 championship. The layout hasn’t hosted a professional tournament since the 1933 United States Open – won by amateur Johnny Goodman – but is a hotbed of WGA supporters. It recently hosted the Western Amateur, and raised $135,000 for the Evans Scholars Foundation by passing the hat to members. The drawback: North Shore has next to no room for corporate tents, and no room at all for grandstands on the last few holes. ... Tee times on Thursday and Friday begin at 10:20 a.m. and finish at 12:21 p.m. With only 70 players, there aren’t separate morning and afternoon sessions. PGA champ Keegan Bradley goes off No. 1 at 10:42 a.m., while Masters winner Charl Schwartzel starts play on No. 10 at 11:37 a.m. Phil Mickelson opens at 11:48 a.m. on No. 1, with Luke Donald in the next group. ... Wednesday’s rain softened the course a bit, and that may continue. The forecast calls for potential rain on Friday and Sunday.
– Tim Cronin
The Readers Always Write
Reader Seitz, disagreeing with Cronin's comment that 11 of the 14 par 4s and 5s all running up a shot, writes, "I'd have to disagree with this. Is it physically possible to land a ball short of the green and have it roll on? Sure. Is it a strategic option anywhere? Not really. Maybe to a front pin on 18. But all of the entrances are really pinched and elevated. On only a few holes does the run-up avenue sit on the intended line of play. I think a lot of the criticism from the players is overblown, but this one is pretty accurate."
Cronin responds, "Thanks for writing. The run-up, whether on the intended line of play or not, doesn't mean a player will have an easy putt, or even an easy two-putt. It is nonetheless an option, even if the last option, just as a difficult pin placement is not necessarily one that should be used as a target. Jim Furyk, having won a U.S. Open down the street at Olympia Fields, knows about those."
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The meeting of the Rees Jones Admiration Society scheduled for Thursday through Sunday on Cog Hill Golf & Country Club’s Dubsdread layout has been canceled.
The 108th Western Open – titled the BMW Championship for the fifth time – will go on regardless.
There’s $8 million on offer to the 70 professionals in the field, which is $2.8 million more than Frank Jemsek spent to bring in Jones, the star architect, to renovate Dick Wilson’s original Dubsdread design for a potential U.S. Open.
So far, there’s no Open on the way, and the Western is heading out of town.
“They need to get their money back, I guess,” Steve Stricker said of the Jemseks.
And Stricker’s won at Cog Hill, and is a fan of the Jemsek family.
Two years from now, if it’s played at a Chicago-area course beginning with a C, it’ll be Conway Farms. While that’s not a lock, it’s a good possibility, and not just because Luke Donald, atop the world rankings for most of this year, is a member there.
“I’d love to see it,” Donald cooed on Wednesday. “They’re great supporters of golf there, and it’s a great golf club, all walking. And I think it’s a great golf course. It’s very capable of holding a BMW Championship. I’d love to see it go there.”
He confessed he wasn’t a fan of Jones’ architectural style, which, generally speaking, is to make courses harder.
“I’m not a fan of deep bunkers and ridges in greens,” Donald said. “There are certain shots out there, certain carries, just the way you have to fit some of the shots into these tight pin locations, it makes it a little bit difficult.
“There’s not a lot of strategy. Like the 18th, you can’t hit 3-wood short (of the bunkers) because you’re hitting a 4-iron into a green that’s very slopey, so it forces you to take on the tighter (part of the fairway). Just from an architectural standpoint, I think there are a few flaws.”
Donald may be unaware of the concept of risk-reward off the tee, but he spoke kindly in comparison to Phil Mickelson. An ardent critic of Jones’ work no matter what the zip code since Jones renovated his home course at Torrey Pines, Mickelson teed up his Dubsdread renovation last year, and did it again Wednesday.
“There’s really no shot-making here that’s required,” Mickelson said. “It doesn’t really test our ability to maneuver the ball because the fronts of the greens are blocked, and the only shot is to hit a high flop shot that stops.”
Actually, you can run a shot onto the green on 11 of the 14 par 4s and 5s, but Mickelson was rolling here.
“But being able to maneuver it doesn’t really matter,” the left-hander went on. “That’s basic stuff. Chipping areas, shot value around the greens, penalties for certain misses, all that stuff wasn’t really well thought out.
“But tee to green and the property, it’s got really great potential. I’d love to see a Gil Hanse or a Crenshaw/Coore or Kyle Phillips or David Kidd, guys that really know what they’re doing, come in and create something special here, because I think that’s what the family and this facility deserve.”
Stricker, Donald and Mickelson were not alone.
“Where this golf course really is going to show some teeth (is) because of the green design, because if the greens are really firm there’s some pins on every green that just are not accessible, that you can’t aim at,” said Jim Furyk, who won on the pre-renovated Dubsdread in 2005. “That’s not going to change really whether I’m hitting 7-iron or 9-iron into the green.”
Geoff Ogilvy, who tied for fifth in the 2004 Western but hasn’t finishes higher than 24th on the renovation, said the course wasn’t one of his favorites.
“I guess to play it well you’ve got to hit it out of the fairway bunkers, (which are) in play on almost every hole,” Ogilvy said. “And the greens, you can get some pretty crazy putts if you miss the pin by a long way on the greens. So I guess a lot of these greens, you’re better off to miss the green on the pin side of the hole. Does that make sense?”
Stricker thought the look of the course improved while the ability to play it declined.
“I’ve got to believe for the average golfer, it is very difficult,” Stricker said. “And the players as a whole don’t really care for the redo. To see a tournament that’s been here for so long sound like it’s going to leave is disappointing.”
Speaking for the defense, defending champion Dustin Johnson was all sunshine and bunnies.
“It’s great,” Johnson said. “I like the golf course a lot. It’s in great shape this year. Obviously I played really well here last year, so it suits my game. It’s long, it’s hard.”
This proves the old poker axiom: Winners tell funny stories, and losers say deal.
For his part, Jones, tracked down by Golf Channel, took the high road regarding the criticism.
“I’m not going to address that,” Jones said. “No comment.”
Around Dubsdread
Add North Shore Country Club to the list of potential sites for the 2013 championship. The layout hasn’t hosted a professional tournament since the 1933 United States Open – won by amateur Johnny Goodman – but is a hotbed of WGA supporters. It recently hosted the Western Amateur, and raised $135,000 for the Evans Scholars Foundation by passing the hat to members. The drawback: North Shore has next to no room for corporate tents, and no room at all for grandstands on the last few holes. ... Tee times on Thursday and Friday begin at 10:20 a.m. and finish at 12:21 p.m. With only 70 players, there aren’t separate morning and afternoon sessions. PGA champ Keegan Bradley goes off No. 1 at 10:42 a.m., while Masters winner Charl Schwartzel starts play on No. 10 at 11:37 a.m. Phil Mickelson opens at 11:48 a.m. on No. 1, with Luke Donald in the next group. ... Wednesday’s rain softened the course a bit, and that may continue. The forecast calls for potential rain on Friday and Sunday.
– Tim Cronin
The Readers Always Write
Reader Seitz, disagreeing with Cronin's comment that 11 of the 14 par 4s and 5s all running up a shot, writes, "I'd have to disagree with this. Is it physically possible to land a ball short of the green and have it roll on? Sure. Is it a strategic option anywhere? Not really. Maybe to a front pin on 18. But all of the entrances are really pinched and elevated. On only a few holes does the run-up avenue sit on the intended line of play. I think a lot of the criticism from the players is overblown, but this one is pretty accurate."
Cronin responds, "Thanks for writing. The run-up, whether on the intended line of play or not, doesn't mean a player will have an easy putt, or even an easy two-putt. It is nonetheless an option, even if the last option, just as a difficult pin placement is not necessarily one that should be used as a target. Jim Furyk, having won a U.S. Open down the street at Olympia Fields, knows about those."
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